Enjoyable swing tribute

Doing things his way

Dr Gananath’s musical tribute to Frank Sinatra:

by Mahes Perera

‘Come fly with me
Let’s fly, let fly away....’

Did the ‘bobby soxers’ scream in delight and applaud as Dr. Gananath Dasanayake started off his tribute concert for Frank Sinatra’s 100th birth anniversary which fell last month?

Of course the ‘bobby soxers’ were there in full strength and their support must surely have been heartening to the artiste who later confessed he wasn’t quite certain which way the tide would turn!

His anxiety was unfounded. It was a capacity packed auditorium that greeted him as he walked in from the wings after being introduced by “Mrs Frank Sinatra” whose humorous spiel shone with creativity and prowess, hitherto not displayed by other female comperes.

I’ve enjoyed Gananath sing and play the sax many times on stages, though not so formal as the one on the day of his concert. But his performance that day radiated electricity that kept the audience musically happy enjoying his style in putting across the songs that Sinatra was associated with.

The program ran something like twelve songs in swing tempo - your favourites and mine. There was ‘For Once In My Life’, the Sinatra special, ‘Strangers In The Night’, Cole Porter’s ‘I Get A Kick Out Of You’, ‘The Lady Is a Tramp’, ‘That’s Life’, ‘All The Way’, the unbelievable hit, ‘New York, New York’, ‘Fly Me To the Moon’, ‘My Way’ and ‘Let’s Fall In Love’.

His improvisations on sax in practically every song gave added impact to his performance. He has cultivated the art of bringing emotionally to life the lyrics of a song which was a gift Sinatra has handed down to future ‘Sinatra singers’.

Umaria Sinhawansa who was a guest artiste that day, sang ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ with modern phrasing not sacrificing the swing tempo. She was joined by Devshan Perera when the duo sang Sinatra’s popular hit ‘Something Stupid’.

Mention must be made of the trio backing Gananath throughout his program. They were tight in their playing giving him the musical support he needed. It was good to see Debbie Arnolda on keyboards and piano, playing with ease and confidence. Nothing rattles her cool exterior. Niroshan de Silva on drums and Maxie Pietersz on double base, were equally supportive.

“I’m glad my rhythm section was with me on stage. They are three people who were committed and thus gave me the confidence to sail through the songs. I achieved what I always wanted to achieve – this personal tribute to Frank Sinatra. I’ve been singing since I was six years old and during my teens learnt more of Sinatra’s songs. I’m glad I did the concert ‘my way’ and with a appreciative audience I was quite relaxed on stage,” said Gananath when he mingled with the audience after the concert.

This concert was in aid of the Sri Lanka Palliative Association and according to Gananath there will be another concert for Sinatra with the lesser heard songs, may be in June or July this year. Although there was no broken-in fedora, the medium–tempo swing was there and Gananath displayed his ability to navigate any line into the swing that epitomised Sinatra.